Of Feathers and Flowers
by Lady Taiyoukai
Summary: A strange girl wanders into Konahamaru, possesing every main head band but theirs. She gets permision to be schooled there by the Hokage, but what she doesn't know is she must restore her fallen clan, and battle out a great evil.
1. Chapter 1

Embers fell onto Koko's head as she ran swiftly by the basin of the volcano. It rained ember year round, so there was no cause for panic. The forest never caught fire from the embers, for the plant life was always covered with a heavy dew, making a forest able to grow around the volcano basin. The dew caused the plants and trees to shine whenever there was light. It was the forest of the village she had just come from; the village hidden in the mist. She was now on her way to Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves.

An ember hit Koko's ear, leaving a small burn. "Damn it!" she yelled as she rubbed her ear. She looked up at the embers angrily, but after a few minutes noted that it was actually a beautful sight. She began to smile when an ember hit her cheek. Her frown came back and she put a hand on her new burn mark as she scuttled for a nearby tree. Her blue ninja kimono that was cut up to alomost her thighs with a black jewish star on the back was covered in little black specks from the embers. "Oh, great! Now I have to wash it!" she said trying to wipe them off, but they only smeared. Koko groaned again as she started to take the kimono off. She quickly scanned the area with her green eyes, all the way to where the ground met the gray horizon. Her black hair, which was tied in a blood red ribbon, flowed with the wind. When she was sure that nothing was moving but the wind, she took the kimono off all the way to reveal her smooth, semi-pale skin with a pair of purple lace underwear with a matching bra. She knew that ninja girls usually wore a bandage around their chest, but Koko didn't like that; too tight! Still no movement but the wind, Koko raced at ninja speed to a river she knew about a half mile away.

Here at the river, embers stopped falling, which gave her peace to wash her clothes. She wasn't sure if they would even get dry, because today the clouds threatened rain. The wind blew icy, wintery cold air, and the grey clouds made everything look grey and solemn. Koko didn't care. She enjoyed this weather.

Before she took her underwear and bra off to get into the water and wash her clothes, she made sure she that her ninja headbands were setting where she could see them. She had four so far; Kirigakure, Iwagakura, Kunogakure, and Sunagakure. All she needed to earn next was the Konohagakure headband. Hence the reason she was going to Konoha. The village Hidden in the Leaves. (She didn't care about the bands of all the other smaller villages...she just wanted the main ones.)

Koko smiled as she gazed down at her acheivments. She went to school for each one of them, and earned them just as everyone else had to, and gratuated and everything. And she was not evn 13 yet! She couldn't wait to get the last one. It would surely be easy to get, and she promised herself not to let ANYONE get in her way. She would beat down all the other students-fairly, of course- and get her prize.

Koko laid her trophies down with her underwear and bra after she took them off. She washed herself up, then her clothes, and used some wind jutsu to dry her clothes and herself off. She hastily put her clothes on. She decided to actually wear her bands. Two on each arm, then she got back to her journey.

The journey was uneventful and short. She arrived in Konoha by daylight, and immediatly went to the Hokage's office.

"Yes, young woman? What is it you want?" asked the fourth Hokage. "I wish to enroll in ninjutsu here. Is that possible?" she replied in a stern, serious voice. "Why, of course. But we must test your level of ninja training since you were not born and raised here, and that test you must take is the chuunin exam. We will put you in the level of--" "Yeah, I know. I've been through this 4 times." Koko said, acting like she was in a hurry. "Okay, then. Let's start now." the Hokage said with little enthusiasm.

Surprisingly, Koko passed all parts of the test, but she had a little difficulty. The Hokage chuckled. "Wow, you're pretty good even though you weren't born here. Let's see..." he looked down at some papers that must've had Koko's information on them. You are going to be a Genin. They're all about your age, so you should fit in well. I'll put you in a group, but they're all full, so you'll be number 4 in the group you're put in. Is this alright with you?" Koko didn't say anything, but she nodded in approval. The Hokage chuckled again. "Eager are we? Well, it's not even 7:30 yet, and class starts at 9. I'll inform your instructor that you'll be coming, and he'll tell your teammates. Meet them in the park with the swing at 8:45. They'll be waiting. Okay?" Koko nodded with an emotionless expression. The Hokage laughed as Koko walked out of the room. That girl has unimaginable power within her...could she be...? No, but I must warn her instructor about her power, he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

"Where is she? She was supposed to be here ten minutes ago!" whined a young boy by the name of Naruto. "Just be quiet, Naruto. She'll be here." commented Sasuke. Naruto growled and gave an angry look at him. "I'M TIRED OF YOU TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" yelled Naruto as he lunged for Sasuke. Sasuke didn't even move. Kakashi grabbed him by his collar as Naruto's stomach growled. He sighed. "Hungry?" asked Kakashi. "Yeah..." replied Naruto with a sad face. Sakura walked over to him and handed him a boxed luch that was half eaten. "Here, you can have it." she said with a tone that said she didn't really approve of this, but she was doing it anyway to get him to shut up. "THANKS SAKURA!" squeeled Naruto as he ate the food viciuosly. Kakashi laughed, while Sasuke and Sakura watched in disbelief. Just as Naruto was finishing up his food, they heard foot steps. They all looked to where they heard it coming from, and, sure enough, Koko just rouned a corner.

"Park with a swing...park with a swing..." she mumbled to herself as she looked around. She looked at the group of three sitting in the grass of a park with a swing. She gave them a look that said "Are you my teammates and instructor?". They all got the message and waved to her. She saw how the boy with the blonde hair was waving, and immediatly knew she didn't like him. She looked at her instructor, and thought, He looks cool! I know he'll be fun! Then she looked at the girl with pink hair. Oh, my god...I **HATE **pink...oh, well. She looks nice. Koko smiled at her pleasantly to show she approved of her. Then she looked at the boy with black hair. HE'S FEAKIN' HO-- she shoved the thought away as she remembered her promise to not let anything get in the way. Even though she had the headband, she needed to earn the right to keep it. She blushed with a surprised look on her face, and Sasuke saw she was blushing at HIM when he finally felt like looking to see who his new partner was. Wow...she's kinda cute.. he thought while blushing back with the same look. He instantly shook heis head and looked away with and expressionless look.

Koko smiled and ran over to them. "Are you guys my team?" asked Koko. with a questioning look. "If you are Kokoro Aiyazaki, then yes, we are." Kakashi said with a cold stare at her, but with a pleasant tone. "That's me!" Koko said smiling. "But please don't call me Kokoro. Just call me Koko." Naruto stood up and slapped her on her back. "Well, welcome to the team, Koko!" he laughed. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki!" Koko made a disgusted look at him, but he didn't see it because he had is eyes closed. Sakura stood up next and intoduced herself. "My name's is Sakura Haruno. You can call me Sakura. It's nice to have you here!" she said with a warm smile. Wow, she's nice! Koko thought. She smiled back. "And I am your sensei, Kakashi. I never go easy on my pupils, you can ask any one of your teammates. Oh, and elcome to the team." You couldn't see it, but you could tell he was smiling. "Thank you, Kakashi Sensei." Koko said politely and bowed. "I like her, already!" Kakashi said with a laugh.

Koko smiled heartily and looked at Sasuke, who was TRYING to not pay attention to them. "And who are you?" asked Koko as she bent down on her hands and knees beside Sasuke. He looked to his side to find her there. Startled, he stood up, but calmly as if nothing had motivated him to get up. "I am Sasuke Uchiha." he said, trying not to sound nervous. Which, by the way, he didn't. Koko realized she was acting childish and tried to get her smile to go away. "That's--uh, I mean, cool, no--" she covered her mouth. Damn! she thought. I can't believe I'm acting like this! Koko laughed. Everyone stared at her, even Kakashi. "Hokage told me that you were a hard worker and didn't like playing around..." he pulled out a clipboard with some information about Koko on it. "Ahhh...here it is. Illnesses..." He looked over it. "Wow. Impressive." he said in a way that you couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "What?" Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke asked at the same time. "Listen to this: Kokoro Aiyazaki. Aquired diseases: Bipolar, A.D.H.D., and special mental illness that causes uneccesary thinking." Koko looked away as everyone's gaze went on her. "What is that unecessasasary thingy that you said?" asked Naruto, clueless. Returning from a surprised stare, Sasuke filled him in. "It's where you do stuff like cut yourself and hurt other people for no reason." Naruto backed up. "WHAT!" Kakashi shook his head as Naruto started to freak out. "Don't worry, Naruto. Hokage told me that it is, besides training to graduate, to help out our teammates. And that's what we're gonna do about Koko."

Naruto gave a thumbs up. "Don't worry Koko! We'll help you!" Sakura and Koko sighed simultaneously. Kakashi interrupted them. "We need to get to our training today." He motioned torward Koko. "How fast are you?" he asked her. Koko shrugged. "Ummm...pretty fast, I guess." Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Good. Today, since no missions are up, we'll be playing base Hide-and-Seek." He pointed torward the swing. "That's base. If you get tagged, you're it. And guess who gets to be first?" Everyone looked around. Kakashi brought his finger over to...dun dun dun...Sasuke. "Congratulations, Sasuke! You get to be it! And count to fifty." Kakashi laughed. Sasuke looked surprised, but brought his emotionless expression back just as quick as it had been taken away. He closed his eyes. "1...2...3..."


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone scattered, except for Kakashi Sensei. He walked over to a spot where he couldkeep an eye on everything. "17...18...19..." Sasuke was getting even closer to fifty. Naruto hid in a nearby tree, and wasn't hidden very well. The color of his clothes shown right through the leaves that were supposed to cover him. Sakura hid in the bushes. She blended in ALOT better than Naruto. She kept completely still, and breathed calmly and quietly. Koko was still just standing there. She looked around. Okay, so...I'm supposed to hide? she thought. Kakashi Sensei motioned for her to run and hide. Koko looked at him like she didn't understand, but went and hid anyway. I've NEVER had to train like this EVER. This is so weird...

Koko found a nice spot to hide. It was a bush RIGHT NEXT TO a small pond. She quietly stepped into the bush and hushed her breathing and movements. "Ready or not, here I come!" they all heard Sasuke call in a bored tone. Naruto, Sakura, and Koko peered through the leaves of their hiding spots to watch where Sasuke moved. Inside his head, Sasuke was thinking of a plan. Let's see...Naruto and Sakura know my moves to well. I'll let them hit base and go after that girl... he smiled. She didn't know any of his moves, making her an easy target to catch. He looked around. Sakura was in a bush a couple of meters away. He looked up to the tree Naruto was in. Okay, so there's Sakura and Naruto. Where's the girl? He glanced around some more, and finally found Koko in the bush. He started to walk torward where Koko was hiding when, "Base!" yelled two voices. He turned around. Sakura and Naruto had already gotten to base. He turned around when Sakura started yelling at Naruto for copying her.

Koko knew she was the last one left. If she could get to base, though, Sasuke would have to be it again. Sasuke kept getting closer to the bush. When he was about 3 meters, away, Koko realized he knew she was there. She quickly got up and tried to dart to the right. Sasuke caught her movements and grabbed her in a spring to prevent her from escaping. It knocked her backwards hard and into the pond. And it was pretty deep for a pond, too. About 9 feet. The blow from Sasuke colliding with her knocked the breath out of her. And it HURT. When her body hit the water and had submerged, she didn't want to move. He's so rough... were her last thoughts before she took in a breath. She felt the water fill her lungs before she went unconcious. Everyone was standing around the pond waiting for her to come back up. After a few seconds, they realizd something was wrong. "**SHE'S DROWNING!**" screamed Naruto. Sakura gasped. "What do we do!" Kakashi Sensei sighed and jumped in. He swam to the bottom, grabbed Koko's wrist and brought her to the surface. Sasuke looked on with wide eyes. Kakshi set her on the ground laying on her back. "I-I didn't mean to push her so hard..." Sasuke said. "I know, but you need to learn not to play so rough." Kakashi scolded in a calm voice. He put his ear to Koko's chest. There was no heartbeat, and she wasn't breathing. Kakashi looked away. "She's dead." he said in a cold voice.

Everyone stared at the lifeless boby that laid on the ground. "Y-You're joking, r-right?" stuttered Sakura. Kakashi shook his head. Naruto and Sakura looked at Sasuke. He was staring at Koko's body with wide eyes. "Look what you did! You killed her!" screamed Naruto. Sasuke looked at him. "I didn't mean to!" Sasuke yelled back. Naruto started crying. "Yes, but you DID! She was only in the group for ten minutes and you KILLED her!" Tears ran down Naruto's face. "It's all your fault!" Sasuke looked at Koko, and walked up to her and knelt down. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I didn't know there was a pond there! I'm so sorry, Koko!" he cried. He pushed the her bangs, which stuck to her face from the water, out from over her eyes. Naruto grabbed his arm. "Get away from her! You'll probably hurt her more!" Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm and twisted it. "I want to say good-bye to her..." Naruto let go and rubbed his arm with a scowl on his face. Sasuke knelt back down and prayed over Koko's body. "I'm so sorry, Koko...I didn't mean for this to happen..." he murmured quietly. "I'm so sorry...I'm gonna be in so much trouble...but I'm so sorry! I want your soul to rest in piece...and please forgive me..." his eyes started to fill with tears. He wiped his eyes, and a drop fell on Koko's left cheek. Sasuke put a hand on her stomach, and was about to get up when Koko started to glow.

A white light surrounded her body, and it grew brighter by the second. Her body lifted into the air, and was turned vertical. Her head fell back limply, and her arms and legs dangled helplessly. "What did you do, now!" yelled Naruto. Sakura stared in amazment. Kakshi didn't know what to think, until it hit him. "The Nitoma clan..." he murmured under his breath. With one last blinding light, the glow faded slowly and Koko was returned to the ground. Everyone hovered over her. Koko coughed. "What happened...?" she said as she acheily sat up. "You're alive!" Sakura and Naruto screamed in unison with delight. They explained what happened to her. Koko looked at Sasuke. She couldn't be mad at him. Number one, he didn't mean to kill her, and number two, he was so hot! She shook the thought from her head and crawled over to him. She didn't have the strength to walk yet. He was sitting under a tree. "You hate me, don't you?" he said in an emotionless voice, not looking at her. She sat right next to him. "No, it was an accident...besides, I could never get mad at a friend." she smiled at him. Sasuke looked up with a surprised expression. "Thanks..." he said, looking back at the ground.

Kakashi came over a hurried them up. "I need to go to the Hokage's offic. Today's lesson is over. Time to go home." he shooed the four of them off. Everyone offered for Koko to come home with them because she didn't have a place to stay. Even Sasuke. Since Sakura was the only girl, Koko went home with her and stayed, and Kakashi went to the Hokage's office.

"I though we killed everyone from that clan!" shouted Kakashi. "After the war between them and the other villages, I thought we had killed them all!" "Settle down, Kakashi. I know, everyone thought that. But I have known ever since the battle that there was one child left. And that's Kokoro Aiyazaki. She is almost like that boy, Sasuke. The only one left in her clan. But Sasuke has you. She has no one but herself. And the thing is, she is a very important person at this time. There's going to be a GREAT disaster in the next couple of weeks or months. It is crucial she stays alive." The Hokage leaned back in his chair. "But she needs to be eliminated! She'll kill evryone here!" "No, she won't. She witnessed her family and comrads being murdered. She doesn't even remember her birth right. And we will need her power in the near future." Kakashi sighed. "But why did you put her in my group!" "She need to get aquanted with Sasuke. They'll have to work together, and it's the way they're going to restore both their clans."


	4. Chapter 4

Kakashi banged his hands on the Hokage's desk. "I'm not letting her traits get into OUR blood stream! How can you say something like that!" "The children of those two are more important than you think. They just need to be alone together alot, and when they ARE together alone, DO NOT DISTURB THEM!" said the 4th Hokage with great emphasis on the 'Do Not Disturb'. Kakashi had no choice but to listen to him. "Yes sir." he spat while bowing. The Hokage motion for him to exit, and so he did.

It was evening by this time, the sun almost gone below the horizon. The very top was still peeking above the horizon, but it would be unseen until morning in seconds. Sakura and Koko were walking home, to Sakura's home, anyway, when they decided to take a little detour and get something to eat. This morning when they were dismissed from training, they went and 'hung out' instead of going home. They were really hungry by this time. "Let's get some ramen, okay?" insisted Sakura. "Okay, sounds nice." Koko agreed. "I'll pay, since I know you don't have any money." Sakura said and grabbed Koko's wrist in the direction of the instant ramen cart. When they approached it, they noticed Naruto sitting in one of the seats. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE NARUTO!" shouted Sakura. "I come here every night." Naruto replied. "What are YOU doing here?" Sakura calmed down. "I'm here--WE'RE here to get something to eat." she huffed, pointing to Koko. "Oh, hey Koko!" Naruto waved at her. Koko looked away and waved. She digs me... thought Naruto with a smile. As he pulled out of his thoughts, Sakura and Koko were sitting down in chairs a couple of seats away. "Why don't ya sit by me?" he asked. "No, that's alright!" Sakura insisted. "Yeah, it's fine. We'll be leaving in a couple of seconds!" added Koko.

Naruto shrugged and went back to slurping ramen. "Um, excuse me!" Sakura called to the man who was cooking. He came over. "Yes, what'll you have?" Sakura looked at Koko. "What do you want?" Koko thought for a second. "Beef." Sakura smiled. "Two bowls of beef ramen please." The man nodded and went to cooking. "So you like ramen, too, huh?" Koko laughed. "Yeah. It's one of the only things I remember about my past. I always ate beef ramen with my big sister." she frowned and looked away. "I barely remember what she looks like sometime...but, I always keep a picture of her with me." she reached into her shirt and pulled out a picture that looked like it had been around a pile of embers, but everything was still visible and readable. "See? This is her." she showed it to Sakura. It was of two girls, one was Koko when she was 5, the other was her sister. She had long blonde hair that reached to below her butt, butit wasn't gold. It was more like the color of the sky in the spring when the sun was just rising. A very light, spring like yellow. It matched her tropical blue eyes. She also wore a pair of glasses that made her look very intelligent, but not those ugly glasses. The small kind, that made her look even more beautiful.

"I miss her so much, even though I don't remember what she was like. And I don't even remember why they dissappeared. I don't know where I come from either. All I know, is that one day I woke up in the middle of a forest covered in blood. It wasn't mine, though. It was someone else's, because I had no scars or cuts. Except for this one thing..." she pulled up the sleeve to her kimono on her right arm, and there was what looked like a bruise there. In the shape of a _hand._ "I don't know what caused this, but it WAS a bruise. But it never dissappeared, so it became a scar. I have no idea how it got there...I have a bunch of other bruises that have stayed there, too...but this one feels special. I think it was my sister trying to save my life, like there was some war, and people were trying to kill us. I remember running through the woods, being pulled, but that's it. I heard a crack, felt a jerk, and someone carry me, then set me down and run off. I think my sister carried me away into the forest, hid me, and ran off to her death. She saved my life...I think. But I miss her, and wish I remember what she's like..." Sakura had a surprised expression on her face. "I'm so sorry...Sasuke is like you. He has no family, or anyone left in his clan, either." "So _that's _why he's so solemn all the time!" Sakura laughed. "Yep, that's right."

The man set the two bowls of ramen down in front of Sakura and Koko. They both thanked him and ate, not saying a word. After about five minutes, they left the stand as Naruto was telling the man to get him more ramen. He said that he had had too much ramen already, and needed to leave. Sakura and Koko laughed until they couldn't hear the man and Naruto yelling anymore. When they got to Sakura's house, she told her mom that Koko would be staying with them, Hokage's orders. EVEN THOUGH it was a lie, she bought it. Sakura showed her around the house, the kitchen, dining room, bathrooms, and of course Sakura's room, where they both would sleep. Sakura was lucky to have two double beds in her room. And not to mention it was a coincidence. And Koko didn't have any other clothes than what she had on, so sakura let her borrow some pajama's until they went shopping for her. (Sakura's mom was a nice lady!) They talked some more abut themselves until they decided they should get some sleep. Tomarrow they had a day off from training.

The next morning they rose with the sun. Sakura and Koko got dressed, talked a little as they ate breakfast, and then went shopping. Sakura's mom helped pick out some nice outfits and a couple pairs of pajamas. Sakura's mom told them she would take everything home, and they could go have some fun. They thanked her and ran off to the park with the swing. They talked and played around some for about ten minutes, chasing leaves in the wind, and taking turns on the swing. As they were about to sit down and talk some, they saw Sasuke walking down the street. "Hey, it's Sasuke!" said Sakura with an excited tone. "You really like him, don't you?" asked Koko. "Yeah, I think he's so cute!" she squeeled. Koko laughed. "Good luck with him!" As they Koko looked at Sasuke, she saw Kakashi Sensei was with him. "What's Sensei doing with him?" she asked. "I dunno, but as long as Sasuke is there, I don't care!" she waved to him. Kakashi and Sasuke both looked at the two girls. Kakashi bent down to Sasuke's ear and told him something. He sighed and and started walking torward them. Sakura squeeled.

Sasuke walked past Sakura and went to Koko. She sighed. I knew it was too good to be true... Sakura pouted. "Listen, do you want to go...do something?" he asked Koko. She looked around, surprised. "Who, me?" "Yeah, I want to get to know you better." "Umm...alright, I guess. Is that okay Sakura?" Sakura huffed. "Yeah, it's fine with me." she scowled. Jealous, not? Sasuke grabbed Koko's wrist and pulled her along. "C'mon. I have a good place we can talk." he hurried her away from everyone else, leading Koko through the woods that were just beyond the perimeter of the park. After a minute or two, they came across a lake. There was a large log on the shore, and Sasuke pulled Koko over to it and sat down. She supposed he wanted her to sit, so she took a seat right next to him. "Kakashi told you to take me somewhere, didn't he?" she asked. "Yeah, but I don't know why. It was like he didn't want me too, but it had to be done." He relaxed a little. "I don't know why, though. You seem pretty...nice, I guess." Koko laughed. "And listen, I'm really sorry for before...I didn't mean to push you so hard." Koko looked out at the lake. The sun made the center of the lake sparkle, and she had to squint to look at it. "It's alright." she said, looking back at Sasuke. "I don't mind."

Sasuke looked at her. "You're not serious, are you?" "Well, of course I am. Why would I joke about that?" "Well, some people would maybe hate someone for the rest of their life if someone did that." "Maybe if it was on purpose, but it was an accident. People shouldn't always take things so seriously. I remember that someone once said, 'Life and friends and family are a precious thing. Never blame something on them they didn't mean to do, or didn't do at all. You'll drift apart from them and never see them again'. And I beleive that person, whoever it was. Because it's true." Sasuke looked at her and actually smiled. "You know, you're pretty smart." Koko laughed. "Thanks. And you're...uhhhh...cute." Sasuke looked at her. Oh my god...WHY THE HELL DID I SAY THAT! "What did you say?" Sasuke asked her. "I said...you're really cute." Sasuke looked away. "You're...kinda cute too..." he blushed, FOR ONCE. "Uhh...I think I have to go..."said Koko. "No, wait--" he grabbed her arm as she got up. "No, I really have to leave!" she pulled away from him and ran home, or Sakura's house. phew! Got away from there!


End file.
